Hands-on Fire Emblem: The Sword of the Seal

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We play the latest RPG from the makers of Advance Wars.

By Peer Schneider

A portable Fire Emblem is long overdue. Originally released on NES and later the SNES, this addictive strategy game series would have been perfect on Game Boy or Game Boy Color, but for whatever reason, it just never happened. While Intelligent Systems' Team Emblem kept on delivering a steady flow of Fire Emblem titles for the Japanese Super Famicom (SNES), the closest thing Game Boy owners got to play was Game Boy Wars, the predecessor to Advance Wars. Well, the wait is over: Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi hit Japan on March 29, and it's already sold more than 140,000 copies in just over a week. In case you're wondering, Maiden of the Dark was just a working title announced at last year's Spaceworld. The game's final name in Japan translates to "The Sword of the Seal" (as in emblem -- not the animal).

I've been waiting for a new installment in the Fire Emblem series ever since Thracia 776 (which came out in 2000), and I'm ecstatic about the fact that Nintendo has finally decided to bring a Fire Emblem to the US. The game takes place 1000 years after humans and dragons battled for supremacy on the Dark Continent of Ereb. The story follows Roy (who first appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee), the young prince of Etruria, who sets out to defend his sick father's kingdom against the invading Bern army of the East. On his crusade against evil, Roy allies himself with warriors from surrounding kingdoms Lycia, Ilia, and Sacae to face the dark threat and once again save the world.

Like its predecessors, Fire Emblem Advance is a turn-based strategy game. If you've played Advance Wars (or any of the previous Japan-only "Wars" titles), you pretty much know what Fire Emblem is all about. The gameplay is divided up into map-based missions, which are introduced via simple character-driven cutscenes. Like in Advance Wars, most missions require you to defend allied towns against rival units, defeat incoming enemies and take over the opponent's stronghold. But Fire Emblem Advance has a distinctive RPG slant that sets it apart from its military-themed cousin. There is far more character interaction and, most importantly, character development. For starters, there really aren't any generic units -- each member of your team has a name and unique character attributes and stats. Every battle earns you experience points depending on how much damage your attacks caused. Once your EP meter fills up, the character in question goes up a level, which in turn increases the unit's stats. Just like in most RPGs, characters are defined by strength, magic power, special, speed, charisma, defense, physique, and magic defense, in addition to turn-based strategy-specific stats, like movement and range.

The blue squares show the unit's movement range, the red ones the attack range. The left screen shows a melee combat unit, whereas the right screenshots displays a ranged attack.

As you've no doubt figured out from looking at screenshots of the game, each character also belongs to a certain class. There are archers, mountain units, swordsmen, knights, troubadour, shamans, dancers, Pegasus knights, wizards, and so on. All in all, you'll find more than 50 different units, some of which are only accessible through class changes. For example, once he reaches a certain level, Roy will turn from Lord to Master Lord -- which means he'll be a whole lot better in battle and even perform some new attacks.

Fire Emblem also features a full-fledged items and weapons system. Characters can carry potions that help cure status ailments and replenish hitpoints, as well as get their hands on a variety of different weapons. The latter aren't just for show, either. A bow or a spear allows a compatible unit to attack from afar, whereas swords and lances are used for close-up combat. The combat system itself is just like Advance Wars. The battles are carried out automatically once you pick which weapon to use for the attack. Faster units strike first and more often, and the damage of course depends on the type of unit you're attacking (archers are strong against flying units and certain weapons don't work against armored enemies). You can buy new items and weapons in stores, find them in treasure chests, or swap stuff with adjacent units.

Characters can select their weapon of choice before attacking (left). The right screen shots the same character leveling up to level 6.

The game's graphics are very similar to the Super Famicom Fire Emblem titles, complete with simple, animated player icons and anime-style character faces. The maps themselves are well-drawn and colorful and display environments both outside and inside buildings. Intelligent Systems changed the battle graphics from the more realistic scrolling display in the SF games to be a little more stylized. When two units clash, the game performs a rapid zoom-in on the square in question and then shows the two characters standing on small patches of earth. If it's a ranged attack, the ground is split, but both characters still appear on screen at once.

The difference between melee combat and ranged attacks is obvious: the ground squares connect for melee and remain split for ranged attacks. A unit that doesn't have a ranged weapon can't retaliate when the squares are split.

The actual player animations are much improved over the predecessors and have a very anime-like quality. The Pegasus Knights now fly high up into the sky before they strike down, and there are tons of neat little battle animations where warriors perform flips in the air or power themselves up just before delivering a deadly blow. Don't expect the graphical prowess and effects of Golden Sun, though. Outside a few neat map zooms, there's very little rotation and flash going on. The action is accompanied by realistic sound effects, such as swords clanking or the whirr of arrows flying through the air. Given the space restrictions of a GBA cart, there aren't any voice samples for the characters, but the music, composed by Yuka Tsujiyoko, is classic Fire Emblem. Plop in Smash Bros. Melee if you want to get the theme into your brain ahead of time¿

Fire Emblem doesn't skimp on options, either. There's a four-player versus mode (which we haven't been able to try yet), different animation and speed settings, three save slots plus an "interrupt save" for saving during missions, a detailed tutorial, a help pop-up help option during the game, and the ability to quickly bypass cutscenes -- a very helpful feature if you happen to reset your game to replay a mission. From what I've played so far, Fire Emblem is everything Advance Wars was, but with tons of RPG elements that add more depth to the overall quest. It's a bit puzzling why no Fire Emblem game has made it out in the west yet, but I'm happy that Nintendo is willing to break with tradition and make this RPG strategy treat available to US GBA owners.

Expect an official announcement of the game and its US title at E3 next month. Until then, enjoy these movies.

If you're itching for this game, it can be imported from specialized game dealers such as Upstate Games.